COMPENSATION OF POSTMASTERS AT FOURTH-CLASS POST OFFICES JULY 13, 1949.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed Mr. DAVIS of Georgia, from the Committee on Post Office and Civil Service, submitted the following REPORT To accompany H. R. 5168) The Committee on Post Office and Civil Service, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 5168) to clarify the laws relating to the compensation of postmasters at fourth-class post offices which have been advanced because of unusual conditions, having considered the same, report favorably thereon, without amendment, and recommend that the bill do pass. STATEMENT It is the present practice of retaining fourth-class post offices in the salary grade and class to which they were advanced because of unusual conditions until the annual adjustment is made on July 1 of the year following the calendar year in which such post offices are established or advanced to a higher grade or class. This procedure has been followed by the Department for many years. However, a recent Comptroller General's decision would require the Department to make such adjustments downward on a quarterly basis and result in a postmaster being paid at a number of different rates of pay during the year. Approximately 150 post offices are established each year or raised because of unusual conditions. These are post offices which would be affected. There is no increased cost involved to the Post Office Department in this legislation. The law with respect to first-, second-, and third-class post offices. presently provides for the adjustments to be made on an annual basis. The bill was introduced at the request of the Post Office DepartThe letter of the Department requesting this legislation is self-explanatory and is as follows: Hon. SAM RAYBURN, OFFICE O THE POSTMASTER GENERAL, Speaker of the House of Representatives. DEAR MR. SPEAKER: I am transmitting herewith for consideration by the Congress an amendment to the law embodied in section 60, title 39, United States Code, and an amendment to section 2 of the act of March 29, 1944 (58 Stat. 130). The amendments are designed to authorize the Postmaster General to retain fourth-class post offices in the salary grade and class to which they are advanced because of "unusual conditions" until the annual adjustment is made on July 1 of the year following the calendar year in which such post offices are established or advanced to a higher grade or class. Such procedure has been followed by this Department in the administration of section 60 of title 39, United States Code, and the last proviso in section 2 of the act of March 29, 1944. However, pursuant to decisions of the Comptroller General an adjustment must be made each quarter. As the receipts or "unusual conditions" may vary from quarter to quarter this may result in the postmaster at such an office being paid at seven different salary rates before the annual adjustment is made. This results in a very confusing situation as the postmaster will never know from one quarter to the next what his salary will be. It is believed that the legislation submitted herewith will remedy the situation, and its early enactment is strongly urged. As the proposed legislation provides for a continuation of the policy which has been followed by this Department, the enactment of the proposed legislation will not require funds in addition to those now expended for this purpose. This Department has been advised by the Bureau of the Budget that there would be no objection to the presentation of this proposal to the Congress. Sincerely yours, J. M. DONALDSON, Postmaster General, CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW In compliance with paragraph 2a of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, changes in existing law made by the bill, as introduced, are shown as follows (existing law proposed to be omitted is enclosed in black brackets, new matter is printed in italics, existing law in which no change is proposed is shown in roman): LAST PROVISO IN SECTION 1 OF THE ACT OF FEBRUARY 28, 1925, AS AMENDED [And provided further, That when the Postmaster General has exercised the authority herein granted he shall, whenever the receipts are no longer sufficient to justify retaining such post office in the class to which it has been advanced, reduce the grade of such office to the appropriate class indicated by its receipts for the last preceding quarter.] Provided, That any post office so advanced shall be retained in the class to which advanced until July 1 of the calendar year following the calendar year in which it was so advanced, at which time it shall be assigned to the appropriate class upon the basis of its receipts for the preceding calendar year. Provided, That at seasonal offices of the fourth class, the Postmaster General may authorize the payment of the fixed annual salary prorated over the months such office is open for business during a fiscal year: Provided further, That the salaries of postmasters at newly established offices of the fourth class shall be fixed at the lowest salary rate, except that whenever unusual conditions prevail at such an office the Postmaster General, in his discretion, may advance any such office to the appropriate salary rate indicated by the receipts of the preceding quarter: And provided further, That when a newly established office of the fourth class has been advanced to a higher salary rate, the postmaster's salary shall not again be adjusted until July 1 of the calendar year following the calendar year in which such office was established, except that this proviso shall not be construed to prevent the advancement prior to such date of any such office to a higher class when the receipts of a preceding quarter warrant such advancement. That part of section 2 of the Act of March 29, 1944, which precedes the first proviso has been superseded by section 8 of Public Law 134, Seventy-ninth Congress, approved July 6, 1915. 1st Session No. 1030 AUTHORIZING THE SALE OF CERTAIN ALLOTTED INHERITED LAND ON THE WINNEBAGO RESERVATION, NEBR. JULY 13, 1949.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House and ordered to be printed Mr. MORRIS, from the Committee on Public Lands, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany S. 13301. The Committee on Public Lands, to whom was referred the bill (S. 1330) to authorize the sale of certain allotted inherited land on the Winnebago Reservation, Nebr., having considered the same, report favorably thereon without amendment and recommend that the bill do pass. EXPLANATION OF THE BILL S. 1330 authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to sell the 40-acre trust allotment of Paul Bighead, deceased Winnebago Indian. Located on the Winnebago Indian Reservation in Nebraska, the land is now owned by eight Indians, the heirs of Paul Bighead. The interest of each Indian is too small to be of any use. The land is now leased to a non-Indian and is not needed for Indian purposes. The Department of the Interior has no objection to the enactment of this bill. The Department's report to the chairman of the Senate Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs is set forth below in full: Hon. JOSEPH C. O'MAHONEY, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, Chairman, Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, United States Senate. MY DEAR SENATOR O'MAHONEY: Reference is made to your request for a report on S. 1330, a bill to authorize the sale of certain allotted inherited land on the Winnebago Reservation, Nebr. I have no objection to the enactment of this bill. The bill would authorize and direct the Secretary of the Interior to sell allotment No. 322 of Paul Bighead, deceased Winnebago allottee, described as the NWSW sec. 25. T. 26 N., R. 6 E., sixth principal meridian, Nebraska, containing 40 acres. This land is owned by eight Winnebago Indians who desire to It is not believed that these sell it and use the proceeds for certain purposes. heirs are capable of disposing of this property without governmental supervision and protection. The tract is leased to a white man and will not be needed for Indian use. However, a sale under supervision will assure the Indian owners of a fair price for their land. The Bureau of the Budget has advised me that there is no objection to the submission of this report to your committee. Sincerely yours, OSCAR L. CHAPMAN, Under Secretary of the Interior. The Committee on Public Lands unanimously recommends that S. 1330 be enacted. WILLIAM HENRY TICKNER JULY 13, 1949.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House and ordered to be printed Mr. WALTER, from the Committee on the Judiciary, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany S. 897 The Committee on the Judiciary, to whom was referred the bill (S. 897) for the relief of William Henry Tickner, having considered the same, report favorably thereon without amendment and recommend that the bill do pass. PURPOSE OF THE BILL The purpose of the bill is to waive the racial-exclusion clauses of the immigration laws in the case of the minor son of a fiancée of a member of the armed forces of the United States, and to have the child enjoy nonquota immigration status. GENERAL INFORMATION The pertinent facts in this case are set forth in a letter addressed to the chairman of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, dated May 5, 1949, from the assistant to the Attorney General. The said letter reads as follows: DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, Hon. PAT MCCARRAN, United States Senate, Washington, D. C. MY DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: This is in response to your request for the views of the Department of Justice relative to the bill (S. 897) for the relief of William Henry Tickner. The bill would provide that the provisions of section 13 (c) of the Immigration Act of 1924, as amended, which exclude from admission to the United States persons who are ineligible to citizenship, shall not be held to apply to William Henry Tickner. It would further direct the Attorney General to grant the alien, upon application, admission to the United States for permanent residence if otherwise admissible under immigration laws. H. Repts., 81-1, vol. 5-28 |